Flavio (Handel)

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Work data
Title: Flavio
Original title: Flavio, re de 'Longobardi
Title page of the libretto by “Flavio”, Tho. Wood, London 1723.

Title page of the libretto by “Flavio”, Tho. Wood, London 1723.

Shape: Opera seria
Original language: Italian
Music: georg Friedrich Handel
Libretto : Nicola Francesco Haym
Literary source: Matteo Noris , Il Flavio Cuniberto (1682)
Premiere: May 14, 1723
Place of premiere: King's Theater , Haymarket, London
Playing time: 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Lombardy , around 690 AD
people
  • Flavio (Cunincpert), King of the Longobards ( Alt )
  • Lotario, an advisor to the king ( bass ), later ( tenor )
  • Emilia, daughter of Lotario ( soprano )
  • Ugone, an advisor to the king (tenor), later (bass)
  • Guido, Ugone's son ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Teodata (Theodote), Ugone's daughter (old)
  • Vitige, Teodata's lover, adjutant to the king (soprano)
  • Court, warriors, guards, servants

Flavio, re de 'Longobardi ( HWV 16) is an opera ( Dramma per musica ) in three acts by Georg Friedrich Händel .

Emergence

John Vanderbank : Caricature of a performance of Handel's Flavio (3rd act, scene 4) - Senesino on the left, the diva Francesca Cuzzoni in the middle and Gaetano Berenstadt on the right

The Italian soprano Francesca Cuzzoni , newly engaged by Handel, made her London debut on January 12, 1723 in his Ottone, re di Germania . Three days later, Attilio Ariosti's first opera for the Royal Academy of Music , Coriolano , premiered and meanwhile there were wild storms of enthusiasm for the Cuzzoni. In addition to the old castrato Senesino , it quickly developed into a main attraction of the Opera Academy. Ariosti's opera was followed by Erminia by Giovanni Battista Bononcini . All three operas are serious heroic operas and so Handel planned a surprise effect for his second contribution of the season by adding a work to the program in May that was actually a parody of a heroic opera: Flavio - a colorful mixture of comedy, sentimentality, irony and political satire. Handel composed the music in April / May 1723 and finished it on May 7th. The autograph contains the remark at the end: “Fine dell Opera | London May 7. | 1723. “The world premiere took place a week later. Originally he planned to give this opera the title of the female main character "Emilia", as the autograph title shows. Handel made the change of title most likely to avoid confusion with Erminia Bononcinis , released on March 30th .

libretto

Nicola Francesco Haym's libretto is based on an older Roman source, Il Flavio Cuniberto by Silvio Stampiglia (Parma 1696), which in turn goes back to a Venetian opera book of the same name by Matteo Noris (1682) for the composer Giovanni Domenico Partenio and subsequently reworked several times for other Italian cities has been. Noris' text was then set to music by Domenico Gabrielli (1688), Alessandro Scarlatti (1693) and Luigi Mancia (1696).

Cast of the premiere:

The opera had eight performances in May and June 1723 and was resumed in April 1732 for another four performances. After that there were no further productions of the piece (even the loyal “Nachspiel” theaters in Hamburg and Braunschweig did not bring Flavio ) until July 2, 1967: three performances were performed at the Handel Festival in Göttingen under the direction of Günther Weißenborn given in a German version by Emilie Dahnk-Baroffio. The first performance of the piece in historical performance practice took place on August 24, 1989 at the Festival of Early Music in Innsbruck . It played the Ensemble 415 , conducted by René Jacobs .

action

Cunincpert was the first Longobard king whose image was struck on coins. Tremissis embossed in pavia .
DN CVNI-INCPE RX; Dominus Noster Cunincpert Rex (Our Lord Cunincpert, the King)
SCS MI-HAHIL (Saint Michael)

Historical and literary background

The Lombard historian and monk Paulus Diaconus provided the basis for the subject of the opera in his History of the Longobards , which he wrote in the late 8th century towards the end of his life. It reports how the Lombard king Flavius ​​Cunincpertus (the son of Rodelinda who erected a monument to Handel in his opera of the same name ) was raised to co-king by his father Perctarit around 680 and became sole king after his death in 688. Diaconus described Cunincpert's way of life in a very colorful way, including adultery, drunkenness and even plans to murder uncomfortable opponents. One episode is of particular interest in this context, as it is one of the two main sources of action for Handel's opera: the seduction of the long-haired blonde Theodote, who comes from the ancient Roman nobility, whom he first made his lover, but then deported her to a monastery was later named after her: S. Maria Theodotis della Posterla . Theodote is also attested by an epitaph. Stampiglia now links this affair in his libretto Il Flavio Cuniberto ("Flavius" was the gender name of the Lombard kings) with an event that comes from Pierre Corneille's play Le Cid (1637) and deals with love on the one hand, honor and a sense of duty on the other: the young one Noble Chimène accuses the king of her fiancé Don Rodrigue because he challenged her father, who in turn had insulted his old father, to a duel and mortally injured him. This event provides the drama with the basis for the dispute between Lotario and Ugone and Guido’s revenge.

first act

Night. Garden in front of the Ugones house. Before dawn, Vitige steals from Teodata's room after a secret night of love. The lovers say goodbye to each other and ensure their loyalty.

Brightly lit room in Lotario's house. Everything has been prepared for the wedding of Lotario's daughter Emilia to Ugone's son Guido in the immediate family. The two fathers move their children's hands together and decide to seek the blessing of King Flavio before the wedding. Bride and groom sing about their anticipation of the happiness of their marriage.

Audience hall in the royal palace. Ugone introduces his daughter Teodata to the king with the request that she be employed in the royal service. Flavio is impressed by her beauty and promises to introduce her to his wife Ernelinda. Lotario appears and invites Flavio to the wedding party when the king is handed a letter from his governor in Britain , Narsette, who asks to be relieved of his duties for reasons of age. He hesitates briefly whether he should transfer the vacant position to Lotario, but then decides to send to Ugone. But Lotario only noticed that he is apparently a possible candidate for the vacancy and is already indulging at the thought of the honorable appointment. But the king declares the arriving Ugone to be the new governor of Britain, because in this way he would "get rid of" him and could compete for his new passion, Teodata, undisturbed. Because he was passed over, Lotario falls into a blind rage. Flavio stays behind with Vitige and tells his adjutant about Teodata's beauty. In order to hide his own relationship with her, Vitige only stutters that he does not think she is beautiful and has to continue listening to Flavio raving about the woman to whom he is secretly passionate.

Atrium in the royal palace. Ugone meets his son Guido in a deranged manner and tells him that Lotario has beaten him furiously with envy. The code of honor would now demand vengeance. But since he was too old for a duel himself, he asked Guido to take revenge in his place and to put family honor above his love for Emilia. In this tragic conflict, Guido soon breaks up and, if necessary, wants to give up his life for the sake of honor: So he announces his decision to defend the honor of his family. When Emilia joins them, unsuspecting, she doesn't understand his hints and why he tries to avoid her. She swears eternal loyalty to him, come what may.

Second act

Royal apartment. Flavio has called Teodata over to approach her. But then Ugone rushes in, too desperate to speak coherently. Because Flavio can't get the reason out of him, he assigns Teodata to find out what is tormenting him and goes off. Ugone now complains about the loss of honor, which Teodata misunderstands, since she thinks that her relationship with Vitige was discovered. In tears she admits this secret connection to her father. Except for the recent blow of fate, he throws his now dishonored daughter out.

Garden. Lotario reveals to Emilia that he does not want to lose her to the nefarious son of his hated rival and that the engagement would be broken. Emilia remains tense. She promises eternal love to Guido, who now appears, whatever happens. But Guido asks Emilia to leave him alone. With a heavy heart she separates from him. Left alone, Guido tries to find a way out with the help of the gods in his conflict between anger and longing.

The lovesick king enthuses about Teodata again to his adjutant and orders Vitige, who is almost bursting with jealousy, to have Teodata brought to him and leaves full of anticipation for the new lover. The weeping approaching Teodata tells Vitige that her forbidden love is now known to Ugone. To complete the misfortune, Vitige confesses his unfortunate mission and they decide to hold off the king for a while. She is supposed to accept Flavio's advertising to protect her father, her brother and her lover. She is ready to do this on the condition that Vitige must not become jealous.

Courtyard in Lotario's house. Lotario is plagued by envy when Guido steps up and challenges him to a duel. The experienced warrior mocks the young man's daring, but succumbs and falls injured to the ground. Guido goes off to report to his father that his vengeance has been carried out. Emilia finds her father in a pool of blood and before he dies he names Guido as his murderer. In desperation, Emilia vows to pursue her father's murderer without mercy. But this one is the man of her heart ...

Third act

Royal apartment. Flavio dreams of his new love when Emilia and Ugone come and urge him to bring about justice according to their own interests: she demands the death penalty for her father's murderer, he pleads for the life of his son, as he would only have repaid the injustice suffered. Overwhelmed by this conflict, Flavio takes time to think and sends her away. Now Vitige Teodata brings over what overwhelms Flavio. He couldn't get another word out and therefore gave Vitige the job of promoting him to Teodata, which he understandably found difficult. When Flavio finds his language again, he addresses Teodata as "my queen" and offers her to become his bride today. Vitige, meanwhile, seems to have forgotten that he had the idea of ​​staging this comedy, and remains plagued by an “angry sea” of jealousy.

Emilia mourns for her father, but also for her lover, whom she will probably lose. When Guido appears and throws himself at her feet, she shows herself implacable. Guido gives her his sword and begs her to kill him with it. But she doesn't have the heart, tosses the sword away and hurries away. Now a little hope sprouts in Guido and he asks Amor for help.

Furious with jealousy, Vitige pays homage to Teodata, the "Queen". They accuse each other of going too far in betraying the king and allowing the game to get serious. When the lovers get closer, they discover too late that Flavio had overheard them. They contrite to admit that they are lovers. When the world threatens to collapse for Flavio, Ugone and Guido come, who asks the king to punish him with death for his deed. Now Ugone tries to take all the guilt on himself: he would have instigated his son to carry out the act of revenge in his place. Flavio realizes that a wise judgment is now necessary. He has Emilia fetched and tells Guido to hide. When she arrives, Flavio reports the alleged death of the murderer. However, she betrays her spontaneous desperation that her life would be pointless without Guido, when she would have to show satisfaction. When Guido comes out of hiding, she almost faints from joy. Flavio brings them together and they reconcile. While Guido asks for forgiveness, Emilia needs a time to mourn. In order to prove himself to be a great ruler, Flavio renounces Teodata and gives her to Vitige with a royal blessing as his wife. Ugone can now take up his post as governor of Britain as an innocent man.

music

The opera was not very successful in Handel's time. That he only took it up once again later (1732) was rather unusual. Even in modern times, Flavio did not have much success at first: the five productions that existed between 1967 and 1987 all took place in smaller opera houses. The opera is short by Handel's standards, which makes it superfluous to make delicate lines, which often cause distortions in the key structure and symmetry of the overall system. In addition, with the usual dominance of high voices, very effective tenor and bass parts are included and thus all vocal ranges are represented, which is something special in Handel's work. In the meantime, Flavio has also been staged in London, Berlin, New York and at the important Handel Festivals in Göttingen, Halle and Karlsruhe, which shows that the advantages of this opera are well recognized. The fact that it was still so difficult at first can hardly be due to Handel's music, which is extraordinarily colorful and full of inventiveness. The problem could rather be the very special mix of the tragic, the comic and the satirical in the subject , which arouses fear of contact in many impresario of our time because it does not clearly fit into a genre scheme. If one disregards some works at the beginning (e.g. Agrippina ) and at the end of his operatic career (e.g. Deidamia ), Handel's other operas are much more of the heroic type of opera seria . They are about important people in history, such as kings and generals and their situation between love, politics, ambition, fame and honor. And if the historical coloring is missing, as in the magical operas, for example, the serious, even the tragic, remains the determining trait. In Flavio , the characters all belong to a court, and in fact one of the storylines is not only tragic, but even ends with the violent death of Lotario. But the people, not least the title character himself, have little dignity and many situations have a comical character. There are many satires about the loyalty of lovers, honor and vengeance, but they target the most beloved conventions of baroque opera. Seen in this way, Flavio is an anti-heroic comedy with tragic undertones.

Nicola Francesco Haym retained the irony of the dialogues and the comedy in resolving the conflict despite all the changes in the text and thus the characteristic of Venetian opera. Together with Handel he even intensified the element of mockery and exaggeration and heightened the absurd controversy over the governorship in Britain even further. During his stay in Italy, Handel had familiarized himself with Italian opera of the late 17th century and its character, which was somewhere between seriousness and comedy, and applied this knowledge with great success in his opera Agrippina, which was performed in Venice in 1709 . Later he would return to this style in Partenope (1730) and his last three operas Serse , Imeneo and Deidamia (1738–1741).

The humor, carried by allusions, and the colorful use of dramatic irony are mainly used in the recitatives. Many dance-like and light-footed arias allow a subtle humor to shine through; they draw character traits and give insights into people's longings and needs. Flavio's music thrives on these opposing emotions, located between tragedy and farce, irony and pathos, and remains in balance. Here a comparison with Mozart comes to mind when it comes to mastery, combining so many shades of feeling without any disproportion.

Handel gives the two lovers of the opera completely different characters: Emilia and Guido belong to the world of heroic opera seria. So that this element does not get out of hand, Handel only hints at the tragic twice, on the one hand in the last scene of the second act, in which Emilia learns that it was her lover who killed her father, and on the other hand at the end of the opera as Guido asks her to kill him to take her revenge, but then she doesn't have the heart to do it. In the latter case, it is an impressive scene that thrives on the constant alternation between Accompagnato and Secco recitative . There are no other Accompagnati in the opera. Both scenes culminate in extremely tragically composed arias, which are also in rare keys, which Handel reserves for such exceptional situations: Emilia's F sharp minor Siciliano Ma chi punir desio? (No. 18) and Guido's B minor aria Amor, nel mio penar (No. 25).

Before the final chorus of all the assembled soloists, Emilia and Guido have to sing a love duet, which is dance-like and because of the good outcome also exudes a certain relief for the two, but ultimately remains in a strict, dignified framework. Teodata and Vitige also have a duet at the beginning of the opera, but this one has a completely different character. Their duet represents a tender farewell to lovers before the lover leaves the beloved's room before daybreak. The accompanying music is much more lighthearted than that of the main couple, downright bold and exuberant, and goes very well with the light keynote of the entire opera. In general, the arias of this couple are very light and dance-like. Teodata is a lovely woman who is outwardly reserved, but is actually a cheerful and witty person. Handel was very fond of drawing such characters, such as Poppea in Agrippina . Teodata's sometimes teasing, sometimes biting verbal battles with Vitige run through the entire opera. Vitige, who to make matters worse, also receives the instruction from Flavio to get his lover in the mood for the king, has to deny her attraction to him. Although the advice to Teodata comes from him to pretend to get involved with Flavio, he gets jealous problems when she does it in such a convincing way. When he, mimicking Flavio, addresses her with teasing irony in the third act as “my queen”, she is again put into doubt as to whether she can count on his persistence. His emotions in the jealous aria Sirti, scogli, tempeste (No. 23) also seem a little grotesque, but if Vitige didn't exaggerate here, Teodata would probably play a game with him.

Flavio is a laid-back, uncomplicated ruler, even given the fact that he is king of a great empire and does not use most of his power in opera. Unlike in heroic operas, in which the heroes also have at least some heroic music, his arias are all love songs and mostly in dancing dance rhythms. Unlike most operatic rulers, he is also clever and enjoys the comedy he has staged, for example when he orders Vitige to extend his reluctant hand to the girl he allegedly does not find attractive, or when he instructs Ugone to Vitige to embrace his worthy son-in-law and then immediately set out to rule Britain. The parody in the less sensitive arias of the two old men Lotario and Ugone only becomes recognizable in their context, since they are not distant, but realistic parodies, so that the situations can also be taken seriously. This ambiguity can be found throughout the opera: comedy and tragedy are sometimes closer together than you might think at first.

Handel originally planned the part of Ugone for a bassist and the part of Lotario for a tenor. The swapping of the voices for the roughly equal parts before the premiere is probably due to the individual wishes of the two singers (Boschi and Gordon). When the opera resumed in April 1732, Handel restored the original constellation for the new singers (Ugone: Antonio Montagnana , Lotario: Giovanni Battista Pinacci). Furthermore, the role of Vitige (a trouser role in both versions of the opera) was changed by cuts, transpositions and adjustments compared to the first version, although Handel, apart from a few recitative passages, hardly added any new music. Further changes and additions, especially for the version from 1732, are recorded in his director's score (“hand copy”) in the Hamburg State and University Library .

As usual, Handel borrowed some of his own earlier works or reused thematic material from Flavio in later pieces.

One anecdote says that Handel accompanied one of Ugone's arias during a rehearsal so fiery that the singer, a young Scot named Gordon, threatened to jump into the harpsichord if he continued. Handel's answer shows his typical dry humor:

"Oh! Let me know when you will do that and I will advertise it. For I am sure more people will come to see you jump than to hear you sing. "

"Let me know when this should take place so that I can announce it: I am convinced that more people will come to see you jump than to hear you sing."

- Georg Friedrich Handel : Anecdote, London 1723.

Structure of the opera

first act

  • Duetto (Teodata, Vitige) - Ricordati, mio ​​ben
  • Aria (Emilia) - Quanto dolci, quanto care
  • Aria (Guido) - Bel contento già gode quest'alma
  • Aria (Teodata) - Benché povera donzella
  • Aria (Lotario) - Se a te vissi fedele, fedele ancor sarò
  • Aria (Flavio) - Di quel bel che m'innamora
  • Aria (Vitige) - Che bel contento sarebbe amore
  • Aria (Guido) - L'armellin vita non cura
  • Aria (Emilia) - Amante stravagante più del mio ben non v'è

Second act

  • Aria (Ugone) - Fato tiranno e crudo, ogn'or a danni miei
  • Aria (Lotario) - S'egli ti chiede affetto
  • Aria (Emilia) - Parto, sì, ma non so poi
  • Aria (Guido) - Rompo i lacci, e frango i dardi
  • Aria (Flavio) - Chi può mirare e non amare
  • Aria (Teodata) - Con un vezzo, con un riso
  • Aria (Vitige) - Non credo unabile chi mi piagò
  • Aria (Emilia) - Ma chi punir desio? l'idolo del cor mio

Third act

  • Aria (Emilia) - Da te parto, ma concedi che il mio duolo
  • Arioso (Vitige) - Corrispondi a chi t'adora
  • Aria (Flavio) - Starvi a canto e non languire
  • Aria (Teodata) - Che colpa è la mia, se Amor vuol so?
  • Aria (Vitige) - Sirti, scogli, tempeste, procelle
  • Recitativo (Emilia) - Oh Guido! oh mio tiranno
  • Recitativo e Aria (Guido) - Squarciami il petto - Amor, nel mio penar deggio sperar
  • Duetto (Emilia, Guido) - Ti perdono, o caro bene
  • Coro - Doni pace ad ogni core

orchestra

Recorder , transverse flute , two oboes , bassoon , strings, basso continuo (violoncello, lute, harpsichord).

Discography

  • harmonia mundi 901312-3 (1989): Jeffrey Gall (Flavio), Ulrich Messthaler (Lotario), Lena Lootens (Emilia), Gianpaolo Fagotto (Ugone), Derek Lee Ragin (Guido), Bernarda Fink (Teodata), Christina Högmann (Vitige )
Ensemble 415; Dir. René Jacobs (155 min)
  • Chandos Records CHAN 0773-2 (2010): Tim Mead (Flavio), Andrew Foster-Williams (Lotario), Rosemary Joshua (Emilia), Thomas Walker (Ugone), Iestyn Davies (Guido), Hilary Summers (Teodata), Renata Pokupić (Vitige)
Early Opera Company; Dir. Christian Curnyn (146 min)

literature

Web links
Wikisource: Historia Langobardorum  - Sources and full texts (Latin)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Christopher Hogwood: Georg Friedrich Handel. A biography (= Insel-Taschenbuch 2655). Translated from the English by Bettina Obrecht. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34355-5 , p. 146.
  2. ↑ Winton Dean: A Handel Tragicomedy. In: The Musical Times. August 1969, No. 110 (1518), p. 819 ff.
  3. ↑ a b c Bernd Baselt: Thematic-systematic directory. Stage works. In: Walter Eisen (Ed.): Handel Handbook: Volume 1. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1978, ISBN 3-7618-0610-8 (Unchanged reprint, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-0610-4 ) , P. 210 f.
  4. ^ Winton Dean, John Merrill Knapp: Handel's Operas 1704–1726. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-525-7 , p. 471.
  5. ↑ Paulus Diaconus: Historia Langobardorum , Ludwig Bethmann and Georg Waitz (eds.), In: Monumenta Germaniae Historica , Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum saec. VI-IX. Hahn, Hanover 1878.
  6. ^ Paul Darmstädter: The imperial property in Lombardy and Piedmont. Trübner, Strasbourg 1896, p. 12.
  7. ^ The imperial estate in Lombardy and Piedmont (568-1250): 568-1250  - Internet Archive
  8. ↑ Martina Hartmann: The Queen in the Early Middle Ages. W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-17-018473-2 , p. 51.
  9. ↑ a b Silke Leopold: Handel. The operas. Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel 2009, ISBN 978-3-7618-1991-3 , p. 240 ff.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g Winton Dean: Handel. Flavio. Translated from the English by Liesel B. Sayre . harmonia mundi 901312-3, Arles 1990, p. 20 ff.
  11. ↑ Christopher Hogwood: Commerce. Thames and Hudson, London 1984, Paperback Edition 1988, ISBN 978-0-500-27498-9 , p. 84.